Legal Approaches for Achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 11

Tue, 22 Oct 2013

During the seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to the Convention on Biological Diversity, on 14-18 October in Montreal, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre presented a scoping paper on the role of law in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11.

The paper, which was developed by the ELC in collaboration with Natural Justice, is one of four new legal studies to explore how law can contribute to country actions on biodiversity incentives, protected areas, ecosystem services and the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol (Aichi Biodiversity Targets 3, 11, 14 and 16). The studies collate knowledge on the legal foundations and identify promising approaches to achieving the Targets.

Photo: Copyright BIP/SCBD

The ELC’s scoping paper is part of the “Legal Preparedness for Achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets” Program - a global initiative, led by the International Development Law Organization and the CBD Secretariat, to encourage innovative thought, train in-country lawyers and develop practical guidance. The primary purpose of the ELC’s scoping paper is to set out the state-of-the-art legal knowledge on Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 and identify priority areas for future legal research to fill key knowledge gaps. This survey of legal knowledge is intended to provide a foundation for future research efforts that will examine the effectiveness of specific national/subnational legal approaches and develop practical legal guidance that can assist policy-makers and other stakeholders to take concrete action to utilize legal approaches to achieve Target 11.

Target 11 states: ‘By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape.’